Recipe: Mushroom Pork Chops

Mushroom Pork Chops

A recipe I improvised based on some internet suggestions and was very pleased with. My planned order of operations changed while I was doing it and there are a number of steps that take a while, but it ended up very tasty.

The night before, fill the UFO with dried mushrooms. Rinse them quickly and gently, then flip it upside down in a small bowl. Cover (barely) with warm water and leave overnight. When starting the recipe, remove the UFO and squeeze out as much liquid as you can into the bowl. Save all the liquid (there will be a lot of it). Cut the reconstituted mushrooms into smaller pieces with a pair of scissors during various waiting steps.

Scoop a couple spoonfuls of bacon fat into a large cast-iron skillet and heat on 4 or 5.

Fry pork chops in the usual way: pat dry, sprinkle with sugar, salt, and pepper, place in skillet for 3 minutes, turn over, and repeat. (3 minutes each side, 6 minutes total). These were sized to fit 2 chops in 3 batches.

As the pork chops finish, set them aside on the plate to collect the juices.

After the last batch of pork chops, pour some mushroom liquid and a hefty splash of white wine into the pan and deglaze it. (Might have to be quick about this if it looks like things want to start burning.) Pour the resulting liquid back into the bowl.

If cooking green beans, add some more bacon fat and fry them in two batches. Pour them into the skillet and spread out into a single layer. Let sit for about 1 minute, then stir for another minute or so, until bright green, then remove. Finish to taste with some salt, garlic powder, and lemon pepper.

Add a knob of butter to the skillet and let it come up to temperature. Add the sliced mushrooms and let sit unmolested for a couple minutes, until they have browned on one side and start to give off liquid.

Stir the mushrooms up a bit, then add the dried mushrooms and a big spoonful of chopped garlic. Mix well and continue cooking until the sliced mushrooms are pretty well cooked. Add more butter if needed.

Meanwhile, add the collected pork chop juices to the mushroom liquid. Taste it and add a few squirts of lemon juice to balance the flavor.

When the mushrooms are mostly done, add the bowl full of liquid to the pan and stir it through. (Pour it slowly so you don't get any grit at the bottom.) Sprinkle some thyme over the pan. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced a fair bit.

Add a little cream (not too much) and stir until well-combined. The result will be many pieces of mushroom in a thinnish sauce. Serve over the pork chops with green beans to the side.